Frail Alliance
by Bastet
Summary: In the aftermath of the final battle, DS9 becomes the focus of Bajoran-Cardassian conflict, when the Federation allows admittance to the Cardassians.
1. Kira's Office

Star Trek: DS9  
Frail Alliance  
  
Col. Kira stared at the pile of work on her desk, wonder how Captain Sisko managed to deal with it every day. She picked up his baseball from its stand and stared at, hoping that somehow it would send her inspiration, or at least alert the captain to her need. But nothing happened. She was still Col. Kira Nerys, acting commander of the Federation space station Deep Space Nine, and the Prophet formerly known as Captain Benjamin Sisko, remained stubbornly silent.  
A chirp from the door brought Kira back to the present. "Enter," she said, glad for the diversion. But when she saw whom it was, her mood altered radically. Standing in the doorway to the office was Baruk, the new Bajoran chief of engineering. He'd had a bad attitude from the moment he stepped on board, and when the Federation announced that they had accepted Cardassia's request to join, he had become surly and rude to all the Starfleet officers. While she understood his frustration - most Bajorans agreed that they should have been accepted into the Federation before the Cardassians - she could not justify his behavior.  
"What is it, Baruk?" she snapped.  
"I wanted to let you know that three of the plasma conduits along the Promenade are nearly burned out. We don't have any replacements, so we'll have to order some in."  
"Fine. Get it done, though. Dismissed." As he turned to leave, Kira sighed quietly. The Federation had decided that the safest place to hold to official joining ceremony was on DS9. The other Dominion members were still making trouble, and many people believed that they were going to take a few months to regroup after their major loss, and then try to take revenge on the Cardassians for betraying them. Therefore, Gul Nokal, Gul Dukat's replacement, had been pushing to get the Cardassians into the Federation quickly, before the Dominion struck. And so, with less than two weeks left before the ceremony, Kira was stuck worrying about her chief engineer's behavior, and Promenade conduits. 


	2. The Meeting

The first thing that Lt. Nog noticed about the room was that it was so large. The glimpses that he'd seen through the half-closed door had not truly portrayed anything about the Senior Officers' Conference Room. This was his first senior officers' meeting, and even if they spent the whole thing discussing carpet colors and Bolian physiology, he would still be excited. Smiling in a way that he hoped didn't make him look overly eager, he took his seat.  
On his left was Baruk. The Bajoran never hid his disdain for Nog, stating to anyone who would listen that there was no place for a Ferengi in Starfleet. Whenever Nog made a mistake, Baruk would ask, loudly, what the galaxy was coming to, that Ferengi were in Starfleet and Bajorans weren't even in the Federation.  
To Baruk's left, at the head of the conference table, sat Col. Kira. Nog suspected that she wouldn't have agreed to the mission, so many years ago, if she'd known that it would turn out such as it had. Beside Col. Kira sat Lt. Commander Joe Morro, the new tactical/security officer and, if Nog was unavailable, pilot. He seemed okay, but Nog had not really had a chance to form an opinion of him.  
Beside Morro sat Dr. Bashir. With Chief O'Brien gone, Dr. Bashir was spending a lot of time with Lt. Dax, who was seated on Nog's right. Even as they sat, they stared at one another from across the table. Every time that they did that, Nog wondered if Ezri was seeing Bashir through her eyes, or through Jadzia's.   
At the end of the table opposite Kira, there was an empty chair, where Commander Hailey Birken was supposed to sit. After Captain Sisko's disappearance, Kira had assumed the role of DS9's commander. Everyone, Kira included, had presumed at the time that Starfleet would sent out another one of theirs to take over command, and Kira would go back to next-in-command. However, Starfleet sent Com. Birken to fill the position of first officer, and so Kira remained in charge. She hadn't been truly prepared, and wasn't entirely comfortable with her new role, but Birken was a very capable officer, and she offered Kira endless support. Birken seemed able to inspire confidence in people with a smile, and although she liked very few people, Kira found herself already growing fond of her. Nog eyed Com. Birken in what he hoped was a subtle way. Her hair was long and blond, her eyes were honey-brown, and her smile lit a whole room; despite his best efforts, Nog had developed a killer crush. If Jake were around, he would laugh, and tell Nog that he had chosen the wrong woman, and then point out a number of other, more attainable choices. But Jake wasn't here. He'd gone back to Earth with Cassidy after little Benny was born. With his best friend on Earth, and his father, the newly appointed Grand Nagus, on Ferenginar, Nog had felt so alone.  
The last person in the room was Ensign M'Naq, the new Vulcan science officer. Though his was proficient at his job, Nog found his constant rigidity and logic grating. Nog was glad that he had very little contact with the Vulcan. 


	3. The First Sign of Trouble

Three days after the meeting, the first Cardassian diplomat arrived. He was a tall and charismatic man, named Lertin, and he had a very un-Cardassian knack for making people feel at ease. He was so likeable that even Kira grudgingly admitted her respect for him, and quickly found herself wishing that he was the only politican she would have to deal with. But, for all his charm, he was still a Cardassian, and so Kira was not entirely surprised when Morro stepped into her office to inform her that Lertin was dead.   
  
"It was made to look like an accident," he explained, "but I strongly suspect it was a homicide. He was standing on the Promenade talking to Lt. Baruk, when the plasma conduit next to him exploded. The explosion wasn't large, but the plasma that it was filled with was contaminated with Tri-3-Ba, a liquid tritanium-barium compound. When it comes into contact with Cardassian flesh, it eats through the skin and congeals the blood, almost instantaneously. But only Cardassians, as it attacks a protein that is unique to their species."  
  
"I see. So, aside from the Tri-3-Ba, this could have been a random malfunction?"  
  
"I talked to Lieutenants Baruk and Nog, and they both said yes, assuming the conduit was older and worn out. But according to the engineering log, Lt. Baruk just replaced all of the Promenade conduits yesterday."  
  
"Was anyone seen tampering with the conduits after that?"  
  
"No. I checked the security recordings. Lt. Baruk was the last person seen touching the conduit."  
  
"So, as an investigator, who is your prime suspect?"  
  
Lt. Baruk, ma'am. In fact, he's my only suspect. He has the means, motive and opportunity. As an engineer, it would be simple for him to rig the conduit, and then get Lertin next to it, and I'm sure he could acquire Tri-3-Ba with a few calls. His dislike for Cardassians, and his disapproval of allowing them into the Federation were well known, and he could have easily done it while he was replacing them yesterday."  
  
Kira frowned. "I figured some violence was inevitable, but I hoped it wouldn't come from any of my officers. Go, bring him to your office, see if he'll talk. Let me know what comes of it." 


End file.
